Don't wait until your horse starts coughing

Dr David Marlin, Professor in Physiology at Oklahoma State University explains why respiratory diseases in horses is not always detected from coughing.

Compared to people horses are much less likely to cough even when they have quite severe respiratory disease.

Horses may cough a few times and then may not cough for several hours.

If a horse is coughing there is a very high (84%) chance that it has a respiratory tract infection or some other form of respiratory disease.

A horse that coughs a few times during warm-up is likely to have some respiratory disease that should be investigated by a vet.

So remember horse’s don’t clear their throat like we do, so don’t wait until you hear your horse coughing. Help prevent respiratory disease by using a Haygain hay steamer – read more on the benefits of steaming.

Haygain is the only method of steaming where I am confident the hay is steamed thoroughly and reaches the required temperatures to improve the hygiene quality of hay with no detrimental effects.

Dr Martin has worked as a consultant to the British Equestrian Teams since 1994 and was a member of the World Class Performance Scientific Advisory Group chaired by John McEwen when it was created in 2006. He was also trainer for the British Endurance Team when they won the Silver Medal at the Endurance World Championships in Compiegne (France) in 2000 and has consulted for many endurance teams and stables in the Middle East. He has recently been appointed Performance Advisor to the British Endurance Team.

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